Brownie Donuts with Fluffy Peanut Butter Frosting
Please don’t hate me. These “donuts” or “doughnuts” are amazing and addicting so I had to share. I also was torn on how to label the recipe. Are you a donut or doughnut kinda person? I asked this question one night on my Nutmeg Nanny Facebook page and got the following feedback: 16 people call them “donuts” and 8 people call them “doughnuts”…oh and one person called them “fat.” I guess I can’t argue with that 1 person but I’m still not going to stop eating donuts doughnuts those delicious things that get me into a lot of trouble.
Now. To be honest these really are not true donuts as much as they are brownies that look like donuts. I bought a baked donut pan a while ago and was itching to use it. I figured what’s better than brownies? Plus, because everything needs to be topped, I made fluffy peanut butter frosting. This frosting was so light and fluffy I couldn’t stop eating the stuff. After I ate two (sigh) I put three in a container and took them to work. My boss ate one and then her dog stole the other two. Don’t worry he was fine. Apparently he has an iron stomach.
Brownie Donuts with Fluffy Peanut Butter Frosting
Yield: 6 frosted donuts
Prep Time: 20 minutes
Cook Time: 15 minutes
Total Time: 35 minutes
Ingredients:
For Donuts:
6 tablespoons unsalted butter
2.5 ounces unsweetened chocolate - chopped
1 teaspoon espresso powder
3/4 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 large eggs
1/4 + 2 tablespoons all purpose flour
For Peanut Butter Frosting:
2 tablespoons butter - room temperature
1/4 cup creamy peanut butter
1/2 cup powdered sugar
2 teaspoons half and half
Pinch of kosher salt
Directions:
For Donuts:
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Spray a 6 count baked donut pan with non-stick spray. You could also substitute a 8x8 dish.
In a medium sized pan add butter, chopped chocolate and espresso powder. Melt over medium heat until smooth and creamy.
Remove from heat and stir in white sugar and vanilla extract. Check the temperature of the batter. If it's still very warm let it cool for just a bit. If it's cool add in eggs and stir quickly to combine.
Add in flour and stir till all combined.
Add batter to donut pan (you should have made enough to just fill the 6 donut spaces) and bake for 12 - 15 minutes until fully cooked. Let cool for 15 minutes in the pan, gently take out of the pan and cool on wire rack. Once fully cooled top with fluffy peanut butter frosting.
For Peanut Butter Frosting:
In a bowl of an electric mixer add butter and peanut butter. Mix till blended.
Add in powdered sugar, mix, and add in as much half and half is needed to reach desired constancy. Add in a pinch of kosher salt and give the frosting a good stir.
oh goodness, I’ve never heard of brownie doughnuts before, but now I will not be able to stop thinking about them!
Brandy! This recipe makes me hate you and love you all at once. Also, it makes me wanna call in sick to work, and go home to bake brownie donuts. And call of my diet.
Brownies disguised as doughnuts is something I could get into the kitchen for.
These sound awesome! loooove this idea!
Yes! brownies for breakfast!!
Sweet Baby Jesus in a manger of sweetness!!
I have been avoiding buying one of those little pans because I couldn’t convince myself I would use it. thankfully you just convinced me, and I think Chris too, that I NEED that pan!!
These look delicious Brandy! Well done!
Brandy replied: — January 9th, 2013 @ 1:34 pm
Hahaha I love you. Best comment ever! BTW I found my baby Jesus the other day while going through wedding stuff
Can you sub strong brewed coffee for the ground espresso? I live in the middle of nowhere and would like to make these without traveling forever
Brandy replied: — January 7th, 2013 @ 9:07 pm
Hi Lisa! Strong brewed coffee is totally fine! I also bought a jar of instant espresso powder so anytime I need strong coffee for a recipe I can make it just one cup at a time
Hope you enjoy the recipe!
I actually ordered a donut pan on sale after the holidays so I can’t wait to make these! Kinda love that they are actually brownies in disguise.
OMG, I love this!!!! Can’t wait to try this recipe!
The best kind of donut to me would be a brownie donut….and with peanut butter frosting? I’d be hard pressed to stop at two. Looks like I have an excuse to get one of the donut baking pans I’ve been eyeing for a while. Thanks for the inspiration!
That’s the best donut innovation I’ve seen in a long time! And who doesn’t love the chocolate and peanut butter combo? Definitely adding this to my recipe collection….thanks!
Brownies in donut form?! Yes, please!
I’m drooling here girl friend… love these! And I’m a “donut” person!
I got a doughnut pan for Christmas and in a way it’s a bummer b/c I’m trying to eat better and all baked doughnut recipes say they’re better fresh, which means I’d have to eat the whole batch in one sitting, or eat stale doughnuts throughout the week. Now this recipe I could take to work and share after having one, I love that! You are a genius girl. And BTW, my dog once ate half a 9×13 pan of brownies and she was fine (she just went into a food coma for a couple hours afterward-lol)–bigger dogs seem to be able to handle some chocolate whereas little ones can die from a small amount–I think it depends on their size as to how much they can tolerate before it becomes toxic. THank God ours is big b/c she’s really good at sneaking it! lol!
Just give me the spoon and a bowl of that frosting and no one gets hurt.
Ohhh man, forget donuts and doughnuts, these should be called heaven!
brownie doughnuts! Pure genius! I want to lick off the frosting! YUM!
Oh my goodness, these are killing me. I bought a doughnut pan last year and only used it once. Now I think I have a pretty good reason to get it out again.
Oh my word…you had me at brownie donut!!! And topped with fluffy peanut butter frosting…nothing sounds better than these right now! And too funny about the dog, we have one that steals anything she can find that is human food!
Could u make these w a boxed brownie mix ?
And when I make regular donuts at home, we eat about half of them and put the rest in the freezer. Super simple treat when kids have friends over.
Brandy replied: — February 8th, 2013 @ 8:56 pm
Hi MamaLuci, Boxed brownies would work fine! A small 8×8 mix will give you 6 donuts and a large 9×13 mix will give you 12 donuts. If you use a large mix you will want to double the frosting too. Hope you enjoy the donuts!